1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of energy, specifically to a device that can produce mechanical and electric energy from ocean wave sources with maximum efficiency, minimum cost and maintenance without producing any greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, directly or indirectly.
2. Prior Art
The Industrial Age began little more than 150 years ago powered primarily by wood, coal and petroleum. Today, our energy economy seems to be humming along like a perpetual motion machine. Billions of people enjoy an unprecedented standard of living and nations are floating in rivers of wealth, in large part because, around the world, the energy industry has built an enormous network of oil wells, supertankers, pipelines, coal mines, power plants, transmission lines, cars, trucks, trains and ships—a gigantic, marvelously intricate system that almost magically converts oil and its hydrocarbons cousins, natural gas and coal, into the heat, power and mobility that animate modern civilization. For one hundred years this manmade wonder has performed nearly flawlessly, transforming coal, oil, and natural gas into economic and political power and turning the belief that the surest way to still greater prosperity and stability is simple: find more oil, coal and natural gas. Today, cheap petroleum, with its high power density and transportability, has become the premier energy choice and the foundation of our comfortable and mobile life style.
Now globalization is pushing mankind into the future, the escalation of quality of life for billions, meaning more energy and food consumption and pollution and disease. But it is being challenged by a sobering reality: global population in 1800 was 1 billion, it doubled by 1925, then doubled again to 4 billion by 1975 and grew to 6 billion in the year 2000. We are entering a new century where we are facing the consequences of our almost total reliance on a single energy source. A crunch point is coming not when we have run all the oil wells dry, but when demand outstrips production. This is when energy prices will skyrocket. Moreover, there is a growing consensus that we are heading for an imminent peak in oil production, if not already past it. Even after massive investment by the oil companies in non-OPEC, the areas in Alaska and the North Sea are about to enter a period of irreversible decline. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the oil industry needs to invest several trillion dollars over the next 30 years in exploration and production.
The search for new sources of energy is now one of the most important challenges for the new century. Fully 25% of the world's proven oil reserves sits under Saudi Arabia. Add its four neighboring kingdoms and that number soars to 66%. The absolute cost of carbon-based fuels, particularly petroleum, has increased dramatically over the last decade along with the political and military consequences caused by the world's increasing reliance on it. And now there is a direct connection between petroleum emissions and the increasing problems of global warming, urban pollution and serious health issues for children as well as the elderly.
Energy production has now been conclusively linked to global warming. Its emissions emit CO2 and particulate that reduce the ozone layer and add micro-particles to the atmosphere. The only solution is to develop an energy that does not produce heat, carbon dioxide, carbon participate, SO2, and waste products or need an extensive global supply and refining system. Also we do not want an energy producing technology that fills up the countryside with machinery eyesores and noise. Oil certainly does not meet these new requirements, nor does ethanol, biomass or even wind or conventional hydropower. Only solar and ocean power meet these high energy standards.
Such a transition of substance will have profound implications for the economy, the environment, and U.S. foreign policy. Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and author of “The World is Flat, A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century” has published an article in Foreign Policy magazine, stating that the price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions. Many of the Third World countries suffer from polluted cities affecting their tourism, high petroleum import costs and growing power grid failures weakening their economies and their fragile currencies. These countries can now produce their own renewable energy producing infrastructure utilizing an advanced materials, design and production system developed in America.
There are approximately twelve generic types of wave energy conversion systems. A wave energy converter may be placed in the ocean in various possible situations and locations. It may be floating or submerged completely in the sea offshore or it may be located on the shore or on the sea bed in relatively shallow water. An energy converter on the sea bed may be completely submerged, it may extend above the sea surface, or it may be an energy converter system placed on an offshore platform. Apart from wave-powered navigation buoys, however, most of the prototypes have been placed at or near the shore. Some systems extract energy from surface waves. Others extract energy from pressure fluctuations below the water surface or from the full wave. Some systems are fixed in position and let waves pass by them, while others follow the waves and move with them. Some systems concentrate and focus waves, which increases their height and their potential for conversion to electrical energy. All the current competing technologies convert wave action into energy by providing some way for the wave to transfer its kinetic energy to a piston or turbine, either storing this energy briefly or passing it immediately into a generation device.
Many such devices rely upon a single float for absorbing a wave's energy. The vast majority of prior art for converting wave energy into useful energy rely upon the potential energy of a wave, i.e., the lifting power of the wave. They are based on surface area or displacement as the key factor in energy absorption. Surface operating wave energy converters use the surface area to capture the smaller less powerful surface waves to power them while submerged wave energy converters use displacement to capture a much larger percentage of the total wave energy spectrum in the form of the gravity wave. In general, only a fraction of the incident energy can be absorbed by a floating body. The amount of absorption depends upon the number of degrees of freedom that are excited in the floating body. There are six degrees of freedom namely, heave, yaw, roll, surge, pitch, and sway. A certain amount of energy absorbed will be dissipated as waves radiate outward from the body. The energy in the incident wave is either absorbed, reflected, or transmitted by the body. But displacement type wave energy converters are much more expensive and can only pull energy out a small surface area.
There are only a very few wave generator systems operating today and all but one are still in the design, testing or prototype stage. Wave power development has been dominated by large scale constructions developed by engineers with hydropower and offshore oil derrick backgrounds. The reasons for limited growth of wave generation are primarily due to the unusual characteristics of the source of the energy—ocean waves. Waves are almost entirely composed of wind and gravity driven pressure waves which carry potential energy. Inefficient multiple energy conversion systems are currently used to convert potential energy to usable kinetic energy. Another major problem is location. The ocean environment is the most lethal environment to man and machine. It places machinery under constant attack from shock, moisture, salt, debris, biological forms and cold temperatures. The second part of this problem is the need to place wave power generation systems in high wave power areas which are out at sea. Ocean waves are greatly diminished in strength by shallow depths. This requires long power transmission infrastructure which is costly and suffer from considerable power loss in the lines. Current on shore based coastal wave energy device systems are costly and eye sores. The ocean based systems are also dangerous to navigation. The offshore type sited in the most powerful wave areas need expensive deep ocean anchoring systems and are exposed to the worst storm conditions.
(a) Current ocean energy systems absorb a limited spectrum of the ocean's energy. This is specially important in low density energy where energy cannot afford to be lost;
(b) Many of these devices are large scale in an attempt to maxniize overall energy conversion efficiency, where due to the issue of low density energy, total surface area is even more important than energy conversion efficiency;
(c) Many of the devices use complicated multi-stage energy conversion system to convert ocean's potential energy to kinetic energy;
(d) Due to the complexity and size of many of the devices their surfaces and working parts are vulnerable to fouling from floating debris and marine growth;
(e) Many devices require complex mooring systems which are costly to install and may ensnare ocean wildlife;
(f) Some devices are not self-righting;
(g) Some devices remain on the surface in storm conditions making them vulnerable;
(h) Many devices have a large number of parts which increase the chances of breakdowns and increase build costs;
(i) Many devices are composed almost entirely of custom manufactured parts which increases overall costs and makes scalability harder to achieve;
(j) Most devices are designed to operate individually off their own dedicated mooring system which, reduces their overall surface area and increases build costs;
(k) Due to their complexity many devices have internal, inertial/mass and surface frictions;
(l) Many devices have complicated electrical systems requiring expensive and vulnerable seals;
(m) Many devices are designed to be situated near shore where the highest energy areas are further offshore and in the open ocean;
(n) Most devices cannot be fabricated of recycled materials which decreases their total lifecycle energy costs;
(o) Most devices are stand alone devices which do not offer reduced wave areas for fish trawlers and private ships;
(p) Most devices are not designed for mass production to reduce costs;
(q) Some devices have an observable outline on the surface of the ocean making them eyesores;
(r) Many devices cannot function as a storm surge barriers but cannot because the moored devices have gaps between them;
(s) Many devices do not adapt well to fresh water production;
(t) The natural cycling of wave's energy pulses require the use of higher capacity electrical equipment reducing overall system economics;
(u) Most devices need more hydrodynamic damping to reduce rolling and pitching ensuring an economic production of electricity;
(v) Many devices don't float as low in the water as possible.
(w) Some devices do not have a significant amount of added damping in relation to their total displacement;
(x) Many devices do not have inherent load shedding incorporating features that inherently limit loads and motions once the rated-power wave amplitude has been reached, de-tuning in large waves to prevent excessive loads and motions;
(y) Most devices do not have a degree of resonant response introduced to improve power capture in small waves;
(z) Most devices require closely machined high tensile parts which are expensive and difficult to mass produce;
(aa) Most devices use complicated electrical systems or water reservoirs to eliminate the pulse characteristics of wave energy;
(bb) Most devices cannot meet the global strategy to deal with the successful commercialization of a low density global energy source. This requires large numbers of devices operating all over the world and includes an ease of transportability across national border;
(cc) Most wave energy converters are not smart enough to adapt instantly to the changing ocean conditions so that they can absorb the maximum amount of energy while at the same time able to reduce their energy profile to be able to survive massive storm conditions.